looduskalender.ee

Badger den or sett.

 

In early winter the den openings are carefully stoppered with twigs, leaves and soil. Badgers sleep in winter but they do not hibernate.

 

They wake up now and then, change their sleeping position in the den (sett), and if the air tends to get too "thick“ the sett is aired.

 

In sunny weather trips are made outside the den. It is as difficult to see a badger outside the sett in winter as it is in the summer when they start moving only in proper dusk. In winter badgers lose a third of their autumn body weight which for adult animals can be up to twelve kilos. The badgers become quite slim until spring.

 

The badger cubs are born in March-April. On average they are two or three, and the male is not allowed near the babies. The family in the winter nest usually consists of an adult couple, one or several young females (sows) and the cubs of previous spring. The underground nest passage is tens of metres long; along it the very cleanliness-loving animals have several sleeping chambers lined with hay and leaves. There are two-three entrances into the den. The badger den can be located in tree stands of various kinds. The important condition is that groundwater level should be far down.

 

In nature ancient badger setts with more than a hundred entrances have been found; they are believed to be up to a thousand years old. Of course a number of the entrances have collapsed; several families of the kind described above may live there. The outer parts of a sett can be used by foxes as well as raccoon dogs and life has shown that they get on without quarrels ...

 

Their number is estimated to be somewhere around three to four thousand.